Darkest Before Dawn
by Maya Beebop
Summary: A little sidequest of Bowen's and Draco's leave them stuck with another maiden sacrifice.  And just when they had ditched that Kara girl!  How will she affect the duo, now that she is bound by honor to them?
1. A Woman Instead of Gold!

****

This story is set between when Bowen and Draco meet Kara and after they've visited Avalon. Kara is back in her village for awhile, stirring up the rebellion. Forgive me if it seems "pieced together", but the fight and the ending were what came to me first.

And FYI: It is NOT a romance fic. I don't support them when they're inter-species (yuck!).

The sounds of early morning in the village were normal. The blacksmith, sweating away, tapped away at some horseshoes. Farmers were talking amongst themselves about the long drought and complaining that the blacksmith shouldn't be using fire around such flammable fields. Women were sewing and shucking corn; complaining that the blacksmith smelled bad and the farmers weren't working hard enough.

Aster pushed aside the flap that served as a front door to her hut. She smiled and looked at the rising sun. It was a beautiful day; the sky was clear or any clouds, the sun was blazing down and a balmy breeze was blowing eastward.

She picked up a basket that she had woven in the past. It was patched and rubbed through in areas, and she made a note to start on a new one; one that she wouldn't sell to anyone. One that was woven tightly around the bottom so the customer wouldn't have to come back once the basket broke soon afterwards…

Aster grinned to herself when she thought of her marketing technique. Angling the basket on her hip, she picked up some spare money and set off towards the small market to buy the day's meat and some vegetables.

As she passed by the council's house, she overheard one of the old men mention to his friend that there had been a strange wind, blowing from the north. It didn't bode well, he said. A northeastern wind brought evil and bad luck, he claimed.

She passed it off with a roll of her eyes and kept walking. Nineteen years, she thought. Nineteen years in this village, from being born to growing into a woman, and never had anything ever happened save for a troupe of traveling bandits that had drunk too much and were quickly sundered by a band of the town men. Aster had never seen evil or bad luck that hadn't been brought on intentionally, most of it being her faulty baskets.

She had just reached the market when a shadow fell over the area. It was a strange shape, and she looked up at the sun to see what cast such an ominous shadow.

Aster's eyes went wide when she saw what it was. The silhouette of a monster! A dragon!

She ran for cover, like everyone else around her. Diving behind a trio of barrels, she cowered, awaiting the town's fate.

The dragon dove, bellowing and spouting flames. A huge ball of fire fell on the expansive fields of straw that had been collected the day before, and the entire valley surrounding the village was instantly ablaze!

The people screamed in fear. A group began praying to God to deliver them. Aster didn't move, however. She was looking at a figure that had just ridden in on a horse. He was dressed in black and had long, wavy blonde hair.

"Where is the leader of this village?" he demanded.

A man came forward. "My name is Alfred. I am the leader. What business have you? If you can run, do so! We are under attack!"

"Ah, sir. That is my business. I am a dragon slayer. Three bags of gold and you will have that dragon dead before sundown," the newcomer proclaimed.

"Three bags of gold!" Alfred demanded. "That's horse manure! We heard from a village east of here that a maiden sacrifice quelled the dragon's fury!"

Alfred turned back to the town. The people looked to him for guidance, but offered their opinions to one another.

"Shouldn't we pay, my lord? A maiden sacrifice sounds a bit harsh for our town!"

"A maiden sacrifice? Sounds horrid, if you ask me…"

"Aye. What would a dragon do with a maid?"

"Eat her, probably. Less armor and less fight than a knight."

Aster quivered in fear. Should Alfred decide on the more macabre of the choices, she prayed he wouldn't remember the time long ago when all his pants went missing and he found them hidden in one of her baskets…or the time she had sold him the largest and most expensive of her baskets and the bottom dropped out as he was carrying some very valuable cloths through a muddy field…or the time-…

But her thoughts were broken as Alfred yelled to the crowd.

"We won't be extorted! Where is Aster Ravenson?"


	2. All Tied Up

She sat stock-still. If they couldn't find her, she certainly wouldn't speak up. Fingering a small knife she owned as her only weapon, Aster had resolved to fight until they killed her. She'd rather be killed by her own people than die in the mouth of a dragon…

"Aster! Get out here this instant, girl! Don't make us have to find you! You've been nothing but a bane on this village and I'll be damned before giving up a chance to get rid of you!" Alfred bellowed over the noise of the dragon's cries. The beast had settled on a rock cliff not far off and flapped its leathery wings menacingly.

"'Ere, sir! Found her!"

Someone grabbed Aster's arm, and she whipped her knife up and into his hand. Screaming, she stood and braced herself for any individual attackers that might come at her.

But a torrent of people came down upon her, tearing the blade from her hand and pinioning her arms behind her. They tied up her wrists and ankles and put a gag in her mouth as she tried to bite and scream her way out.

The crowd dropped her at Alfred's feet and she looked up at him from the dust. The dragon slayer looked uneasy. Probably because he was losing a chance at three bags of gold.

Alfred spat at Aster and missed her by inches. "Tie her up and call the beast. One girl like her isn't worth three bags of gold, but she'll do the trick."

Aster watched he slayer ride off in the direction of the cliffs and towards the dragon, but she saw no more of him as a few men erected a post in the one intact field nearby and brought Aster to it. They used strong rope to hold her up against the pole and keep her still.

"Mmph! Mmm Mmmph!" she implored, unable to articulate the fact that she'd do anything to be let go.

But the men were moving away now and Alfred was wielding a ram's horn. He blew into the end of it to attract the dragon's attention and Aster watched the beast hesitate for a moment, then open its wings and begin towards her.

She wriggled in her bindings, screaming against her bonds and trying desperately to do anything to get free. Her wrists began to bleed from the furious rubbing against the ropes.

Aster looked up to see the diving monster and she gave a final shriek as it dropped its foreclaws to pick up the post with her attached to it. She felt the pole pulled away from her back, just as she passed out thinking one last thought.

__

Dear God, don't let me see the end. Don't let me see it when I die…


	3. A Slayer or a Trickster?  Infamous Duo!

Aster's eyes fluttered open. Her hands felt a hard surface below her and she moved her head to see it.

She was lying on a large boulder. Severed ropes lay around her, and she was being sprayed with some mist from a nearby waterfall.

She sat up and examined herself. Her baggy, frayed, black dress held on by its own rope was still on her. Her chestnut hair was still done up in a loose ponytail. She seemed to still be alright, but her wrists were covered with congealed blood.

She sighed and tore strips of cloth from the bottom of her dress. Stepping off the rock, she soaked the strips in some clean water and tied them over the wounds.

Suddenly she froze. She had heard a noise behind her. For a moment, she played the fool and started towards the waterfall, wading out in the water as if she didn't think there was anything wrong. A second passed, and she took her chance and dove behind the deluge of water.

Aster tripped when she realized that there was a huge opening behind the waterfall instead of solid rock. She sharply sucked in a breath through her teeth as she realized she had cut her palms on some jagged stones below her.

Picking herself up, she sat on a drenched rock and awaited her eyes to adjust to the gloom. She couldn't see her new wounds, and wanted to examine them before worrying what had been out there just then.

Her back was to the darkness, and she almost didn't hear a breath behind her. Thinking that it had just been the water making noises, she went back to poring over her scratched hands.

"Not too spry on your feet in the dark, are you?" a deep voice inquired.

Aster stood up instantly and faced the gloom. She looked towards where the sound had come from, and realized that it had come from near where she'd expect the roof of the cavern to be.

"Who are you? Come down from there and let me see you!" she demanded.

Her eyes went wide as the huge, scaled, horned head of a dragon dropped down to her eye level and grinned.

"A d-dragon!" she cried. She fell backwards and hit her backside on another stone. Wincing, she rubbed it and realized how close she was to a monster. Scrambling back and out of the cavern and onto the shore, she didn't realize until she bumped into someone that she wasn't getting too far too fast.

"So, here you are!" She looked up. It was the dragon slayer! She was saved!

"Yes, hiding here after the whole 'maiden sacrifice' fiasco in the village," the dragon returned, coming out of the waterfall and lying on the ground not five yards away from where Aster lay. He was huge! Close to twenty feet high and almost fifty feet long! His accent was decidedly Scottish, she observed.

But it didn't matter what extraction he was or how big he was, because she was saved! Saved, saved; this man would kill the dragon and she'd go home and sock Alfred one so hard, he'd go back to last week, and…

"You didn't 'serenade' this one, did you?" the slayer demanded, sending Aster out of her happy thoughts and into quite a new plane of confusion.

"No, not yet. Haven't had a chance to, Bowen; the lass was faint up to just a minute ago," the dragon laughed.

"Well don't waste your time. The whole plan was a flop; the 'maiden sacrifice' thing apparently worked. Now, if word gets out across the country, you'll be singing to an entire _audience_ of sacrifices on a regular schedule!" Bowen raged. He squatted down and washed his face in a pool of water while continuing.

"We need to get moving before we're beaten by word of mouth. Pack up and let's go. There's a village to the west that might still be in the dark in regards to our plan." Bowen stood and checked his sword. Sheathing it again, he looked down at the amazed Aster, whose mouth hung open at this passage of words.

"Oh, and Draco?" he said, still looking at Aster.

"You called?" the dragon returned.

"You gotta eat this one. We can't let her go." Bowen turned and started to walk towards his waiting horse that stood by a tree close to the stream.

Aster snapped herself out of her daze and tried to plead her case. "Oh no, I swear! I'll never tell a soul! Never! I'm not ever going to return to that village, and I swear on my parents' graves that I'll not speak a word of this to anyone! Please!"

Bowen didn't turn back, and the dragon didn't make a move.

"We've gotta kill you one way or another, girl," Bowen stated coldly. "You're too much of a wild card. We've got big plans and _another_ girl running around spouting the truth isn't good. One is _already_ too much. There can only be so many 'wandering idiots' around here," he explained.

Aster's eyes filled with tears as she realized he wasn't joking. He was completely serious.

"Well can you at least knock me out first?" she implored. "I don't want to see it…"

Bowen shrugged and picked up a fist-sized rock. He made for her left temple, but suddenly the dragon's voice filled the clearing.


	4. Dragons Are Rather Charming, I Might Say

"Bowen, stop!"

The warrior balked and backed off.

"You know yourself how dangerous she could be!" Bowen yelled.

The beast shook his head slightly and sighed. "You _can not_ be this cold-hearted. Let the girl live."

"Why? She'll ruin everything!"

"No, she will _not_. Your blade must _defend_ the _helpless_, knight. She can do no harm. You cannot slay her with any weapon you may wield. Let her live."

"Draco…"

"BOWEN! You will do as _I_ say this time. She will live, and you will let her go free as long as she gives me her _word_ that she will never speak of this to anyone. Girl!"

Aster looked up at what she could only describe as her both her bane and savior. She cowered before him, her blood still running freely off her palms and onto the stones below.

"You must swear you'll remain silent about this. Do as we say, always, no matter what the cause or request, for what you do beyond this point in time is by _my grace_, do you understand? Do you promise?" the dragon demanded.

She nodded, shaking. "I swear it…"

The dragon eased back and gave Bowen a grin. "There you go, Bowen. Your very first indentured servant. Aren't you proud?" he asked playfully, resting his chin on his right claw.

"I'd rather she be eaten! I don't want a slave; I want Kara to stay in her village and I want this girl to be out of the picture! But seeing as what I'd rather is no longer an issue, I have no say in it and I'll remain quiet about it from here on out!" Bowen spat and climbed up on his horse. He began a trot away from the clearing and to the southwest.

"Fine then. That'll give her and I a chance to get to know each other," the dragon commented, standing up and walking behind him. Aster got up as well and followed, walking near the dragon's right rear leg.

"Come on up here a moment and let's talk, face-to-face," he requested, and Aster sped up her pace to reach his foreclaws.

"So, you've already met Bowen, and I'm Draco. Pleased to meet your rather petrified looks and your bleeding hands. Show them here a moment," the dragon, Draco, asked. He stopped a moment and his head came close to Aster's outstretched palms.

She watched as he placed a claw over each of the deep cuts and she winced when he sent a shock of searing pain across each of them.

"Ouch!" She pulled her hands back and opened on eye gingerly. She saw that a thin layer of skin was covering the wounds now! They were healing!

"Oh! Th-thank you…" she offered, unsure how to convey her gratitude to him.

"Not a problem, lass," Draco returned. "Oh, that reminds me. Never got _your_ name, did I?"

She looked at his perfectly serious face. This was _real_…she was having a conversation with a dragon who did _not_ intend to eat her, she was about to follow them on some mad quest to fool villages in the southwest, and the creature actually cared who she was!

"Aster…Aster Ravenson," she replied.

"That means 'star', doesn't it?" he commented, turning back and walking again.

"I suppose," was the reply.

"You know, dragons have a special attitude towards stars. I suppose that's why I objected to Bowen. He's not usually that unkind; it's just that the last time a girl got involved with us, she proved to be quite a nuisance to him." Draco chuckled. "Personally I found her quite charming, if a little shallow."

"Shallow?"

"Didn't seem to understand the relationship between me and Bowen very much. She keeps trying to throw us off and tell villages what we do as a team. Bowen doesn't outwardly like her exceedingly, and their personalities seem to clash more often than not," the dragon philosophized.

"I see. So why is she on your team?" Aster inquired.

"That's just the thing of it!" he laughed aloud. "I don't think she is! Between trying to expose our little game and attempting to rally her village against Einon, I believe she's more of an acquaintance we keep meeting over and over again than an actually teammate."

"Really?" Aster found herself laughing at this explanation. "So, why _do_ you fool villages into thinking you're just some evil beast who wants to destroy towns and Sir Bowen is just some slayer who just shows up in the nick of time?"

"Well, Bowen is a little on the 'empty-handed' side, and needs to earn a little extra gold once in awhile. I personally don't gain anything, unless you count the fact that I'm not being continuously attacked by slayers who actually _do_ want to kill me."

"Well, forgive me saying so, but you're a _dragon_! Isn't that your lot in life? If I'm being ignorant or rude, tell me so."

Draco chuckled again. His good humor seemed to have no end. "I won't tell you off, but being chased down by a bunch of ill-practiced humans expecting you to roll over and die is a bit on the boring side once you've gone through the motions as many times as I have. A little flame here, a swish of the tail there, and they're dead and you're tired. It's lost its interest for me."

"But then why do you fake death every time with Bowen? Doesn't _that_ get boring?"

"Eh, it's a living. And one must live." Here Draco's voice became more serious, more personal.

Aster found that they had reached the edge of the woods. They were walking across an expansive wheat field, and she found that walking just next to Draco's forearm provided her with a clear path through the stalks as he knocked down the grain as he walked. It also could be dangerous, because she was in his blind spot. But that didn't worry her. She expected that he knew exactly where she was.

Something hit her. "Hey! I have another question!"

Draco's head turned to look at her. "Yes? What is it?"

"Why'd you kidnap me in the first place? I thought you'd eat me for sure, but then I woke up and I was still alive!"

"_Eat_ you? Yegh!" Draco retched. "Never in my life would I eat something tied-up and defenseless!"

"So you cut me free? So I'd fight back?"

"No! I mean I wouldn't have eaten you at all! That's how we ended up with Kara, and let me tell you that I didn't want to go through that again! The girl's nice and all, but too bipolar. One moment she's walking with us and having a good time, the next, she's shouting to a town we're about to trick that Bowen and I are in league together. I can't ever figure out what's going on in her mind!"

"She was a sacrifice too? And you _sang_ to her?" Aster was taken aback.

Here Draco grinned. "I may have given her a little ditty or two." She could tell that he knew she was interested.

For the next two miles, across the wheat fields, onto a huge stretch of grassland, and finally into the woods again, Draco sang what sounded like the happiest of dragon songs. It was jubilant and soulful and everything else that Aster loved about singing, magnified a hundred times.

When he had concluded, Bowen was rolling his eyes and pretty much getting sick of it. Aster, however, was bowled over.

"Bravo! Encore!" she raved, clapping.

Draco grinned and took a sidelong glance at Bowen. "Well thank you, but I believe our friend the knight is quite tired of it."

"Just tired of the three _other_ encores you performed," Bowen replied, getting down off his horse. He set out his sleeping paraphernalia and gathered wood for a fire. Aster had gone off on her own, and brought back a pile of deadwood she had pulled from the topmost branches of a nearby stand of expired trees.

Bowen took one look at the pile and snorted. He took most of it, ignoring his own pile, which had a lot of still-green wood in it, and built a pyramid. Sitting back down, he looked to Draco.

The dragon winked at Aster and shot a spout of flame at the pit. Instantly, the wood was ignited and crackling joyously. Bowen produced a pair of rabbits he had shot while gathering wood and stuck them over a spit.


	5. Your own people did that to you?

As the meat cooked, Aster sat staring at the flames, lost in thought. Here she was…alongside a dragon and a knight in the middle of nowhere, and she wasn't worried or scared or anything but completely at ease and content! She was more comfortable out here with two people she hadn't even known before today than safe in her home, weaving baskets.

"Aster? Aren't you hungry?"

Draco's voice brought her back to earth. She turned her head and saw him gesturing towards the finished food.

"Oh. No, not too hungry. I'm sorry; I thought they were both for you two. I just forgot about my stomach."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Bowen shrugged and Draco lifted the rabbit. The dragon popped it into his mouth like a grape and swallowed absentmindedly. Aster smiled softly.

After a time, Bowen turned over and went to sleep. Aster couldn't drift off if she wanted too. She sat for a very long time, staring at the sky as the bonfire turned to embers.

Draco crawled over, half-asleep himself. "You haven't moved since dinner. What are you thinking about?" he asked quietly.

Aster shrugged and turned to look at his face. "An awful lot. Mostly about how much time you two have spent together. I realize I'm out of place out here; you're used to a different style of living. How _did_ you two come to know each other as such good friends?"

Draco smiled and looked up at the stars. "Well, at first, we were bitter enemies. A huge battle ensued when he hunted me down. But one stalemate and a good idea later, here we are tricking villages for money and traveling the countryside." He grinned, chuckling.

Aster didn't smile, however. "And…he really wanted me dead?"

"No, just out of the picture. It gave him a fright when he saw how the plan was backfiring, and he told me to play along and leave you somewhere. I couldn't, though. I saw how badly you were hurt. Your own people did that to you?" he asked, alluding to her wrists.

Aster rubbed her arms and tried to keep her eyes from looking at the wounds.

"They…they follow our village leader without question. He doesn't like me that much…and we're really poor…so…"

"…So he offered you up instead of squeezing the townsfolk dry of their money?" he finished.

She nodded slightly. "Yeah."

Draco nudged her arm with his nose. "Well, I for one believe it was a good trade. Otherwise, Bowen would be gloating over his pointless money and our fire would be rather smoky tonight."

Aster turned back to the stars, smiling. "I guess I didn't have much going for me back home."

"No, just not enough. Out here…you have what you need."

She nodded slightly and eyed the constellations.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Where do dragons go when they die?"

The question seemed to trigger something in Draco. He looked up, following Aster's gaze.

"Dragons…well, we have two possibilities. We can live out our lives and die, but our souls disappear. They're erased from reality, as if we never existed at all.

"But what all dragons aim for is that group of stars up there." He pointed one claw towards the constellation Draco.

"What is that?" Aster inquired, gazing at them.

"It's the dragon's heaven. Dragons who have earned their place up there are allowed to enter when they die. Their souls ascend and _become_ stars. It's the greatest reward a dragon could ever earn," Draco explained.

"And you're named for it?"

He turned and gave her a small smile. "That's a name Bowen gave me, because he could never pronounce my name. It's easier that way."

"And he knows about the dragon's heaven?"

"No. Not yet."

"I see. Is it a secret?"

"I suppose, until I decide he needs to know."

She smirked and drew her knees up to her chest, clasping her hands around them. "It sounds better than the priest's heaven. To get there, they preach of purgatory and an eternity of fire if you don't achieve heaven."

"Well, the church is just a religion. Based on belief. You can believe whatever you want to. That's the beauty of free will," Draco commented, resting his head on his claws.

She accepted this and nodded. "Do you think belief makes things real?"

"I wouldn't know about that. But I do believe that I will right what I have done wrong in the past. It sounds like belief can _help_ to achieve and make whatever you want real. But again, I don't know much about the subject." He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Draco? I know I'm keeping you awake, but can I say just one more thing?"

"Of course," was the reply.

"If I were to…well…you know what? Forget it. It's silly to talk about." Aster eased herself to the ground, her hands still smarting painfully. She curled up into a ball and closed her eyes.


	6. It Wasn't Literal!

Aster was awoken by the rhythmic rocking of a horse. She opened her eyes and sat up, almost falling off the back of Bowen's steed. She looked around. Bowen sat in front of her, leading the horse. Draco flew above them, whirling and diving through the air.

"Good morning!" she called to him.

"Good morning as well!" he roared in return, diving and setting down next to them. The dragon walked beside them, grinning.

"Bowen didn't want to waste time sitting around. Nor did he want to wake you," Draco claimed, explaining why she was on the rump of the horse.

"Well thank you!" she exclaimed, tapping on Bowen's shoulder and smiling.

He turned back a moment to nod. "I figured you'd be upset if you woke up and we were gone."

"Not for too long," was her answer. "I'd have followed the dragon tracks, and at points when Draco had taken to the sky, I'd have followed the horse prints."

Draco was taken aback. He beamed with pleasure at this thought, while Bowen shrugged it off and smirked.

"Well, it seems our lass is a tracker at any rate," the dragon responded to this.

Bowen turned to him. "She'd make a decent Ranger, at the very least."

Aster kept her eyes on Draco as he advanced with them. She admired the powerful muscles that worked beneath his skin as he moved. He was so like a horse when it came to his torso, but so unlike one when her eyes fell upon his legs and wings.

"There it is."

Bowen's words startled her. She looked down into a valley and saw a small village near a lake.

"Already? Why this one? It looks so poor…"

"Then I'll lower my price." Bowen spurred the horse faster and Draco took to the air, heading for some mountains in the distance.

Aster watched him fly off and spoke to Bowen.

"How can I help?"

Bowen was taken aback. "You honestly want to help? Rip off some poor village?"

"Well I might as well do _something_ if I'm to stay with you."

"Alright…" Bowen thought a moment, his fingers scratching his stubbly beard. "Head down there and spread the word that there's a dragon on its way, and you…wait. No, when I make my appearance, just sing my praises, would you?"

"Alright then." She hopped down and made for the village. Bowen watched her go and shrugged.

Draco made _his_ appearance splendidly, as only a dragon could. He roared and shot fire and destroyed a few barns before swooping far off and out of arrow range.

Bowen rode into town, sitting high and smirking. He surveyed Draco's handiwork and nodded.

"Where is the leader of this village?" Bowen demanded.

Aster, who had been hiding out behind a stand of straw, was hit by a wave of nostalgia. She fully realized now how well they had planned this before, when it had been _her_ village under the mock-attack.

A tear almost fell from her eye as she realized how they had been set up. But pushing away her anger, she turned back into the conversation the leader and Bowen were having.

"And who are you to say whether we need a slayer or not? How do we know you're not just some traveling ragtag wannabe swordsman who wants some extra pocket-change?"

Aster recognized her cue. She appeared from the wings and began her part in the ploy.

"_Oh they sing of a man, a slayer foretold,_

"_He but lusts for dragon hide, has no passion for gold!_

"_His name be the fear of any winged beast_

"_None belittle Sir Bowen's skills in the least!_" she sang to a tune not unlike a local folk song she had heard when she was young.

Aster saw Bowen's jaw drop and his eyes roll. Apparently she took him too literally when he said to "sing his praises". But it was too late now; she had an audience. Some people threw coins, and she bowed and picked them up.

"So…you _are_ a slayer. Fine then. Kill this dragon and you'll have your bag of gold," the leader said, walking away.

Bowen sighed and got off his horse. Setting up the local litter, he loaded it and Aster sat down to observe the festivities. She hadn't seen them "slay a dragon" yet.

Draco appeared on the horizon and bellowed horribly. Even Aster was frightened. Bowen, however, wasn't fazed and waited until Draco had flown right in front of the catapult. Yelling, the knight swung his sword down and released the javelin.

What Aster saw next amazed her. Draco picked the spear out of midair and positioned it next to his body so it looked like it had gotten him right through the gut. Her mouth hung open as she realized what a phony ploy it had been and sighed in disgust when she saw the positive effect it had on the peasants.

She stood to see Draco make his death-plunge into the deep lake. He howled to the very last, up to when he fell into the water, sending a tsunami-worthy wave crashing against the waterfront buildings and a cannon-ball deluge over everyone and everything in the town.

She shook the excess water from her hair and breathed again. She realized she had been holding in her air since Draco fell. She noticed he wasn't resurfacing.

Something in her was worried that he might drown, holding his breath for that long. But then again, she figured, they had practiced this plenty of times. Draco was a professional at this, and she should back up and let them do their thing.

Soon after, Aster met Bowen outside of the village and hopped on the back of his horse, smiling.

Bowen looked at her funnily.

"I didn't mean to actually _sing_ it."

"Well I didn't know you didn't mean it in the literal term," she replied.

"Sing what?" Draco was back and settled down on the ground next to them. Water still dripped off his scales, and he was chewing something.

"She found it more profitable if she were to actually put my actions to _song_ instead of just the spoken word," Bowen explained.

Aster glanced at Draco's mouth. "What are you eating?"

Draco bared his teeth and used the tip of his tongue to pick a scrap of meat from between his teeth. Turning so they wouldn't see, he spat out a pile of clean bones.

"Sheep are getting fat this time of year…"

Aster laughed to herself and turned back to Bowen. "So where to now, knight?"

"I asked for directions to the next town, and they said to head west. So, let's find a spot to camp and start a fire."

They found an area next to a single, solitary, half-dead tree. Bowen piled some deadwood and sat back, letting Draco do the rest. Aster had bought some decent pork in the village with her earnings and began to cook it, seasoning it with some of the nearby flora she recognized.

After they had eaten and Bowen told them to get to sleep early so he wouldn't have to carry anyone the next morning, Aster smothered the flames with dirt and curled up in her ball on the ground.

She found herself crying, thinking of her village. Her family buried in the cemetery, her friends all lost to the famine the year before and the heat waves this year. All that was left in her ring of acquaintances was a few farmer's wives that clucked about her outfit and the baskets she made.

The tears flowed freely down her cheeks, making the dusty ground below wet with mud. She didn't realize she was sobbing until she felt something curl around her.

Snapping her head up, she realized it had been Draco's tail. He appeared to be deep in slumber, and she dismissed it as something he did unknowingly in his sleep. Laying back down, she realized how good it felt to have something strong and protective around her, and she sidled up to it, falling asleep under its warmth.

She didn't see the dragon open his one eye to a tiny slit to make sure she was asleep; nor did she see the soft smile he gave when he saw what she looked like, sleeping like a baby next to his tail. Laying his head back on his claws, Draco proceeded to truly fall asleep, just as the stars began to peek out from behind the cloud cover that had been hiding them since dusk.


	7. Heated Arguments Always End Badly

The next morning greeted them with an orange sun. The sky was tinted red, and Draco didn't like the look of it.

"There's an old saying that a red sky in the morning means bloodshed to be found within twenty-four hours," he mused, looking up.

Bowen laced up the saddle and climbed on. "Well if there's going to find bloodshed, we might as well let _it_ find us. I'm not in the mood to go find any. Let's make tracks; I want to reach the next town by nightfall."

Aster got up and realized that her hip was sore. She rubbed it, wincing at the pricking pain.

"Anything the matter?" Draco called from where he was with Bowen.

"Just my hip. I must have slept on it wrong," she replied. She grimaced as she eyed the horse, imagining its rocking motion that would only help to cause more pain.

Draco eyed her hip and got a strange look on his face. He shrugged and waited for Aster to finally climb on the steed and for Bowen to start riding. The dragon pushed off the ground and flew on ahead.

"So, what do you two talk about at night…when I fall asleep?" Bowen asked, trying to start civil conversation.

"Oh, not much. We talk about whatever comes to mind, I guess. But we didn't say much last night. I could tell he was tired and probably didn't want to chat." She looked down at the passing ground, trying to control the dull ache in her joints.

"Sore?" Bowen asked, reading her mind.

"A little bit."

"So why didn't you ask to ride _him_, instead of this shaking horse?" Bowen turned around and inquired.

Aster's face went slack and she stared at him, amazed.

"How could you even _think_ of _anyone_ asking Draco for that? It's a sin for any human to ride a dragon! It belittles the pride of such an ancient and powerful race! How dense _are_ you?" she demanded.

"It was just a _thought_. Jeez, you'd think I _killed_ him or something, the way you react!" the knight commented snidely.

"Well I for one don't see why you need to use '_killing_ the dragon' as your example," she returned.

"It was just-…! Forget it! Just forget it, alright? Get off my back and shut up."

"I'm not _on_ your back, and I don't see the horse complaining that I'm riding on _his_!"

"Just…just get off and go home!" Bowen spat.

A beat of silence passed. Aster sat still, not sure she heard him.

"You heard me! Get off my horse and go home! No one asked you to follow; no one wanted you to come along anyway! Just go home!" he bellowed, almost pushing her off.

She slid down and glared at him. "So you think you're better than Draco? You're only friends because one of you can't kill the other!" she yelled.

He eyed her suspiciously.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you owe him your life! Every night that you fall asleep next to him and he doesn't cut your throat is a time when you're entrusting yourself to his good humors!"

"And every night _he_ falls asleep next to _me_ is a time when _he_ owes _me_! So we're equals!"

"Equals?" She laughed darkly. Tell me, knight! _You_ may think so, but does _he_?"

Her words cut into him more than she saw. But he tried to evade the rest of the heated argument by sending her off.

"I told you to leave. Be gone! Live out your life knowing you've fulfilled your promise to both of us!"

Her face lit up. She remembered the whole promise now. She _had_ sworn her life…to _both of them_.

With a scowl, she gave him one final edict before turning away. "_You_ may feel that you two are equals, and _he_ might _say_ it, but I don't believe a bit of it. I'll leave, but not without telling you this: when you next see Draco, look into his eyes. You'll be able to tell whether or not he thinks you're in the same class as him."

And with that, she spun around and stomped off to the east.


	8. From Another's View

Bowen let her words echo in his mind before shaking it off and turning the horse towards where Draco had flown. He kept the horse at a steady trot until Aster was well out of sight and he spotted Draco in a field nearby.

Racing over, he noticed that the dragon was looking over a field of dead peasants. Each had been shoddily armed and had all been butchered, men and women alike, by weapons bearing the King's crest.

"I told you before, Bowen, didn't I? That when you attack the nobility, it's the peasants that pay for it. This is Einon's doing…but for what? I can't tell…"

Draco sighed deeply and looked down in honor for the dead. Bowen observed the field and considered burying them all, but that would take two days' work and the bodies were already being attacked by the local scavengers. It would be best if they were left to the elements.

"Are we going to move on?" the knight asked.

"Yes. Where's Aster?" the dragon inquired, turning away from the scene and beginning to walk beside Bowen's horse.

"I sent her home."

"You _what_?"

"She was becoming a nuisance. And no, I didn't kill her this time. I just told her to go home."

"But-…"

"Now see here, Draco. We _both_ had custody over that…that _wench_…and I did as I saw fit. She wasn't any use to us; she wasn't doing any more than slowing us down. My horse won't be able to carry heavy loads for a month now that she's ridden it!" Bowen snarled.

Draco shook his head to himself and stopped. Bowen was taken my surprise and reared back his horse. They sat that way for a minute.

"What?" the knight demanded of the silent dragon.

"Bowen, you need to consider things from her point of view. I know you two fought; I can tell from your attitude and speech."

"Her point of view? I _have_ considered it! She thought a dragon was gonna eat her and he didn't! Now she's all high and mighty because she thinks you _chose_ not to and she thinks she's invincible! Don't tell me what she is or isn't!"

Draco shook his head again. He could barely make eye contact with the knight.

"It's more than that, Bowen. Think about _before_ that. Her own people tied her up and threw her on the altar because they didn't want to pay a paltry sum. She was kidnapped and frightened half to death and she truly thought she was going to _die_.

"Now, she's grateful for not being killed by either you _or_ me. But think about it: it was _I_ who told you not to kill her. She remembered too late that she had sworn her loyalty to _both_ of us, not just me. So now she's angry because she wants to regard my word as higher than yours, just because you happen to be a human, just like her.

"I'm sorry if she made you mad, Bowen. But it's best to walk around in someone else's shoes before criticizing them and sending them away." Draco looked at him in a reprimanding, yet understanding way.

Bowen looked to the horizon. He _had_ made a mistake. She was only loyal to Draco because he had told Bowen not to kill her, and Bowen had never extended any tangible hand of friendship towards her, either. He had treated her like a servant, not as an equal at all.

"She said something to me. Told me that we weren't equals…that we were only friends because one of us couldn't kill the other."

The dragon sighed and shook his head. "Bowen, you have to understand that, while I regard you as a great friend, it isn't in a dragon's nature to think that any human could be greater than themselves. That's what makes us fight slayers to the death. Pride is one of our most precious amenities, and if we lose it, we'd be no better than the dogs that roll over at their master's command."

Bowen thought about what Aster had said. He took her advice and looked straight at Draco's eyes. What he saw there was not the same light that shone from any other knight's eyes or any other human's, for that matter. What shone from Draco's eyes was a strong power, one that couldn't be broken and couldn't be expected to compete in the same class as a human. It was above what Bowen could understand; it was beyond his understanding.

With a humble nod, Bowen perked up suddenly.

"Draco, you think we could find her?"

The dragon looked up, a pleased look on his face. "I'd be surprised if we couldn't!" he shouted, lifting into the sky.

Bowen spurred his horse towards the east. "Besides!" he yelled to the flying figure. "I don't want to give up such a good cook so easily!"


	9. Surprise Attack!

Aster fought back angry tears as she stomped down to the village they had just fooled. She drew out her purse and realized that there were only a few coins left in the bottom; enough for dinner and maybe one night in an inn.

She sighed and made for the market. But trumpets sounded before she had taken two steps, and she turned to witness a band of the king's riders descend into the valley.

She watched with mild interest as they entered the town. Shrugging it off, she looked to the west and thought she saw something dive behind a mountain.

__

Probably just a bird playing tricks on my eyes…

She blinked and did a double take. Draco and Bowen! They had returned! She watched as Bowen rode his horse closer and closer, while Draco settled down in a field of tall grass to hide.

She put on a blank face as Bowen approached her. But what he said astounded Aster so much, she couldn't help but grin.

"I want you to come back with us. I don't want to give up such a good cook as you and Draco was angry with me the minute I told him. Please come back," he said so quickly, it sounded like one sentence.

But her grin dissipated and she gave him a mysterious smile. "You looked into his eyes, didn't you?"

He nodded. "I saw what you were talking about. I realize that I may have spent more time with him than you have, but you seem to understand him more that I ever will. Now come back with us and let's be off to the next town!" Bowen declared, moving up in the saddle to make room for her.

Aster grinned and started to climb up, but the sounds of shrieks and cries of pain instantly filled the air.

They turned to see a lord reading off an official-looking scroll. "By the power of King Einon, this land will be cleared for a summer-castle for his lordship. All occupants are asked to leave peaceably and quickly, lest they be removed from the area by force." The lord grinned at the sight of knights attacking the unarmed villagers, killing right and left. "So sorry to have informed you so late…"

Aster and Bowen stared for a moment at the horrific sight. "Come on, we have to fight!" Aster demanded of the man. He nodded and drew his sword. Charging into battle, he let fly a war cry so terrifying that it sent chills down Aster's spine.

The girl herself wielded a small dagger she found attached to Bowen's saddle. With it, she lashed out at foot soldiers, slicing open whatever unprotected flesh she could.

With a roar, Draco was among them, spouting fireballs at groups of knights. He reared up and crushed the lord with his claws.

"Well, now we know where all those dead bodies came from!" he raged, slashing at attackers.

Bowen pointed to a white-clad figure riding on a cream-colored horse. "Einon!" he shouted. Draco noticed him too and flew over, planting himself between the fighting and the king.

Glaring at the cowering redheaded ruler, Draco lifted the scale covering the old scar over his heart. Bowen grinned, watching Einon, knowing the outcome that would pass from this. The king would be terribly frightened and run off.

But Einon wasn't backing down. He sneered at the dragon, drawing an arrow from his pouch. But only Aster saw him place the arrow on the throng of his bow, trying to hide the loaded weapon from view.

She realized what was going to happen and acted.


	10. Sometimes It's Darkest Just Before Dawn

"No!"

She stood on the horse's hindquarters and launched herself to Draco. Grasping his neck, she felt the harsh sting of the shaft of wood as it entered her upper back, piercing her lung and driving through a portion of her heart.

Einon gasped and ordered is soldiers to retreat, obviously afraid of this girl who sacrificed herself to save the dragon from the lethal arrow. Draco himself was breathless and was still as Aster's grip loosened about his neck. She bore a smirk as she fell to the ground.

Draco caught her at the last minute and eased her down. Bowen leapt off his horse and came over to examine her.

The arrow was in very deep. Aster gasped for breath as Bowen propped her head up on his knee.

"Aster? Aster! Are you alright? Say something!" he cried, desperately trying to get her to recognize him.

"D-Draco? Are you alive?"

The dragon was instantly at her side. "Yes, Aster. I'm here, thanks to you."

She smiled; a thin trail of blood coming out of the corner of her mouth and tracing a path down her cheek to drip on the dirt below.

"I-I'm glad. It figures…that just when I could come back…I do something _stupid_ like this…but I don't have any regrets about it," she managed.

"Aster…" Draco tried. But her eyes rolled back in her head and she fought to stay awake.

She spoke again, weaker and more dependant on each and every breath she took. "Bowen…take care of him, will you? Learn how to cook."

The knight showed his teeth in a quiet laugh, in spite of himself and his emotions.

"Draco…I know what I believe in now. I _know_…" She tried to turn her head towards him, but she didn't have the strength. Bowen moved it for her.

"D-Do you th-think they'll let just one human into the dragon's heaven…for s-saving one of their own?"

Draco gave a small smile and shrugged. "I don't know much about these things, Aster. But I believe they might."

She sighed and dropped her chin a bit as her eyes started to cloud over. "I wouldn't mind spending eternity away from my family and friends who went before me…if it meant being with more like _you_.

"Draco? Do me a favor, would you?"

"Anything, Aster. Anything within my power."

She used the last to her strength to turn her head on her own and look happy. "Could you die soon, so I won't have to be alone for so long?"

He gave a soft smile and chuckled low in his throat. "Aster, my lifetime may seem like an eternity here on earth, but it will pass in a moment up there."

She nodded and expelled her breath that she had been saving.

"I wish…" she began. The night was silent. No birds sung, no crickets chirped. The deafening nothingness was absolute as she finished.

"I wish I didn't have to see it coming."

And she was gone.

Bowen held her limp figure in his arms, tears leaking from his eyes. "Draco? Could you fly her to Avalon?"

The dragon bowed his head and closed his eyes for a moment in reverence to the dead. Opening them, he nodded. "Of course. Here," he bent down. "Put her over my shoulders."

"No," Bowen said. "She…wouldn't have wanted to ride you. She said that…" He tried to recall her words. "She said that, "for any human to ride a dragon…was to belittle the pride of such an ancient and powerful race". You'll have to carry her in your claws."

"Yes, I see now. Here."

Draco lifted off the ground using his wings. He grasped Aster's body in his right foot and started off to the peninsula where King Arthur and his Knights lay beneath the earth.

Bowen watch his friend fly off, knowing that when he arrived, he'd scratch out a shallow grave for the fallen, and would probably place a stone to mark the pile of newly turned earth. Then, when Draco returned, they would start off for the next town and the next adventure.

He didn't notice it, as he led his horse to a nearby stream to refresh itself, that the night became aglow with the stars. A certain group shone more brightly than the rest, and among them, a small star appeared for the very first time. It twinkled for a moment as the brightest in the sky, then dimmed its light and rejoined its brothers and sisters as part of a well-known constellation; one that was said to be the Dragon's Heaven.


End file.
